Although white is often used as a background to allow other elements to shine--colorful food on a white plate or a brilliant painting on a white wall--that isn't always the case. In Beverly Balk's all-white kitchen/dining area in Long Island's Mansions & Millionaires Showhouse, her dramatic fittings created a bit of a paradox--by making the absence of color into a presence.

"White doesn't have to be antiseptic," says Beverly. "It can adapt to whatever accent color is pleasing to you at the time."

Here, the designer drapes the room in scene-stealing white, using red as an accomplice rather than giving it a starring role. The bright primary hue doesn't attempt to compete, making only cameo appearances. Stripes on a bench cushion, piping on table linens, and tiebacks for white curtains framing a shelving display of shapely serving pieces all demonstrate that the mostly monochromatic scheme can handle jolts of intensity. An artful Andy Warhol-like arrangement of Campbell's soup cans on higher shelves peeks through the top, uncurtained windowpanes.

Soft fabric tempers the striking white-red scheme. Gathered skirts adorn a stool at the painted table as well as the sink surround in front of the window. Beverly added a strong graphic effect in the glass-fronted upper cupboards, where shirred sheer fabric covers the bottom two rows of panes.

Designer Michael Del Piero let armchair travel be her guide to setting up the library at the Lake Forest Showhouse near Chicago. She opted out of traditional library decor--the heavily mahogany-paneled walls and the leather-bound classics. Instead, she used a different sensibility to lead her design, immersing the room in a European ambience.

"In European homes, they have reading rooms, not libraries," Michael explains. "I wanted a space that inspired exploration instead of the atmosphere of a men's club."

To create an air of intriguing antiquity, the designer placed at eye level hundreds of beautifully patinated old books, many with worn and rugged covers, as well as other artifacts exuding a warm aura.

Gail Plechaty's master bedroom suite for the Lake Forest Showhouse presents a Catch-22. On one hand, its envelope of serenity and calmness aids sleeping, which is, after all, the room's ultimate intention. But with a space cloaked in creamy fabrics, natural light, and furnishings that create such elegance, who wants to waste time in shut-eye?

Views of breathtaking gardens guided Gail's decision to produce a neutral suite. She bathed the walls in warm ivory to create a room that doesn't compete with the outdoors but whose tranquil ambience throws the arresting, glamorous furnishings into relief.

"It is maddening to me when the exterior and interior do not flow as one," Gail explains. "After all, the world's best architect and designer is Mother Nature."

In an ensemble that registers as feminine, the designer anchored the large room with a couple of pieces providing masculine heft. A black-painted four-poster is dressed in ivory linens that emphasize the bed's classic silhouette. On the facing wall, a gentlemen's press sits between two windows wearing billowy panels of ivory silk.